The University is holding a series of free writing competitions across various formats (screenplay, film, interactive fiction, novel, TV) to solicit stories that showcase what a sustainable society might look like.
Research by Professor Denise Baden shows that solution-based stories, or those that smuggle in green ideas/characters in the context of an otherwise mainstream story are more likely to inspire greener behaviours than catastrophic tales of climate change.
Denise explains the thinking behind the initiative:
“My academic research into sustainable business has exposed me to numerous sustainability solutions, but writing about them in academic articles does not necessarily help to engage the broader public in these.
The difficulty in promoting sustainable behaviours is that they are often seen negatively as ‘doing without’ and the typical fear-based discourse can turn people off.
This matters because political parties tend not to see environmental issues as ‘vote winners’ which limits potential for green policy making. Stories are powerful means of inspiring positive change, and the aim is to encourage positive visions that allow potentially transformative solutions to be showcased in the context of an engaging narrative.”
So as a way to raise awareness, writers are asked to check out potentially transformative solutions on this Green Stories website and integrate them into their story. They are all free to enter. The deadlines are across 2019/2020 and there are prizes (this includes a student category) and routes to publication/production set up via the BBC, literary agents and production companies.
You can follow Green Stories on Facebook; Twitter.
If you have any queries, please email: [email protected].
Find out about our University’s Sustainability strategy here.
Follow #SustainableSoton.
